More than 20 women representing various women’s group in the central division are attending a training course in woodcraft and designing.
The training is designed to boost employment opportunities for women across the country and also raise income generating opportunities.
The 2 week training which is being facilitated by Indonesia’s embassy to Fiji and the Fijian Government (through the Ministry of Social Welfare, Women and Poverty Alleviation) looks at various forms of craft and designing including coconut and bamboo crafts for these women.
The training is facilitated by Mr Ali Sulchan, the expert in Bamboo and Coconut craft who is all the way from Indonesia and has been in Fiji for the last 4 weeks. He has already conducted 3 trainings in the Coconut and Bamboo Crafts, first one at the Buretu Women’s Centre in Tailevu, Waiyevo Women’s Centre in Taveuni and Multi-Purpose Bure in Ba. The woodcraft is his 4th training and he is determined to train more women in Fiji.
Mr Sulchan said that woodcraft is a lucrative business in Indonesia and Fiji is yet to reach its full potential in realizing the value of wood crafting.
“The women trainees have shown good creativity skills; they have realized that there is hidden opportunity for income generating and they are determined to explore this area. In Indonesia for example woodcraft products fetch good price particularly in hotel and tourism industry and this is a new opportunity for Fiji to tap on rather than importing woodcraft, Fiji can produce its own woodcraft products. Through my stay here I have observed that Fiji has lot of natural resources readily available like timber, bamboos and coconuts that could be turned into money making products,” he said. This training allows these women to design and construct products like wall hangings, photo frames, wall key holders, wall mirror frames and coffee table to name a few.
The Minister for Women Dr Jiko Luveni said that woodcraft is one of the many training opportunities her Ministry has provided in partnership with the Indonesian Embassy to help the local women to enhance their skills to diversify their economic potentials.
“These women will go back and share their skills with the other women in their communities and the Ministry is ready to further assist them to establish their income generating through producing quality woodcraft products,” Dr Luveni said.
One of the trainees, Mrs Maria Vianny, a 56 year old retired school teacher and also the member of the Catholic Women’s League said the training is challenging saying that “it is the first time for some of the women to use tools like a hammer and a chisel” .
“I am really glad I have the opportunity to participate into this training, it makes us realize that working in areas like woodcraft, carpentry and joinery is not only reserved for men rather it is an opportunity for women to venture into male oriented career. It’s exciting and rewarding to learn new designs of woodcraft and after we finish we will have another skill to take back home and utilize it to improve our livelihood,” Mrs Vianny added.
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